The teams invited to the Tour de France, who regularly took the breakaways with advertising objectives, now have more prestigious ambitions.
A stage with no breakaway for nearly 100 kilometers between Dax and Nogaro, several solo raids nipped in the bud, like those of Laurent Pichon or Simon Guglielmi (Arkea-Samsic)… Since the start of the Tour de France, the stages of flat end without suspense with a sprint finish. What discourage many runners from taking the breakaway and annoy the romantic supporters of cycling. The 11th stage between Clermont-Ferrand and Moulins, Wednesday July 12, promised to the sprinters, should not experience a different scenario.
“We were bored in the peloton, like a lot of people watching their TV I think, and Benoît (Cosnefroy) came to see me before an intermediate sprint to ask me if, in the event that no one raised, I was ready to call him, so I said yes, and I called him”says Anthony Delaplace, escaped with the runner AG2R-Citroën after 100 kilometers of racing between Dax and Nogaro, Tuesday July 4. “It was more to spend a little time in front, because it was nice to open the road to the Tour, and then it allows you to get some fresh air, completes Benoît Cosnefroy. It was just to liven up this boring stage a bit, but we didn’t give 100% given the small gap that the peloton left us”.
Invited teams with “more important ambitions than showing the shirt”
At the front of the peloton, the sprinter teams control the gap with the breakaway to make sure they don’t get caught out. “Today we realize that on flat stages, we can no longer play with the peloton. He leaves for a minute or two. The big teams are so strong that they roll and protect their leader, they want to show that they are stronger, and the teammates are used to pull the peloton and we don’t let them break away.”continues Anthony Delaplace. “If they gave five or six minutes, I think there would be more people to take the breakaway, but this is doomed to failure and it’s not very interesting, especially since doing 200 kilometers at the front, it’s never harmless physically”adds Benoît Cosnefroy.
Between Mont-de-Marsan and Bordeaux, Friday July 7, Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X) and Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) tried to break away with Simon Guglielmi (Arkea-Samsic), but gave up their company after only five kilometers, on instructions from their teams. “Some time ago the guest teams often sent riders up front, but now they are teams that have more ambitions than showing the jersey. They have sprinters or leaders who play for the win or the general ranking, like Arkea with Nairo Quintana last year, or TotalEnergies with Peter Sagan this year”analyzes Benoît Cosnefroy.
The thrills of opening the road
Breakaway during the third stage, with Neilson Powless (EF Education-Easypost), Laurent Pichon (Arkea-Samsic) rode thirty kilometers alone at the front once the American got up. “Honestly, if I had listened to my legs, I wouldn’t have gone to the front, because maybe I left a lot of energy there. But in the end, it’s my best memory, and it was worth If everyone thinks defeatist before the start, that’s not how we’re going to run bike races.”affirms this nostalgic of the cycling of yesteryear.
“Being a breakaway is rewarding and it gives a good image of the bikecompletes Yoann Offredo, a former runner accustomed to breakaways and consultant to France Télévisions. It gets lost and it’s a shame because it gives visibility to the sponsor but it also gives pleasure to people who watch TV and to kids on the side of the road. It’s extraordinary to open the road, we get shivers every time we pass through the villages, it’s like a childhood dream. I invite all the riders to go up front because a career goes by very quickly”.
The former rider of the FDJ and Wanty-Gobert is however aware that the breakaways on the stages promised to the sprinters do not have much to gain. “There is certainly the price of combativeness, and it’s a great reward to get on the Tour de France podium when you’re neither a leader nor a sprinter. But we could consider a distinctive jersey for the rider who has spent the most time in the breakaways or who has done the most kilometers at the front”, he suggests. With 523 kilometers run in the first group of the race, Neilson Powless (EF Education Easypost), already leader of the mountain classification, would be the wearer of this jersey. A jersey which, if it existed, would be more and more honorary.